By EMS1 Staff
MOOSONEE, Ontario — An air ambulance agency was cleared of negligence in a fatal 2013 helicopter crash that killed four people.
The Star reported that charges against ORNGE were dismissed after Justice Bruce Duncan found they were not negligent in their failure to provide night-vision goggles to the pilots of a helicopter, but said the incident highlights issues within the industry.
“The law requires that decisions be made in a dispassionate and objective manner. However, the unavoidable result of that is the proceedings may appear to be technical, analytical and maybe even cold,” Duncan said. “I want to assure, particularly the families and friends and the public as a whole, that the tragic loss of life here has not been forgotten.”
The helicopter crash occurred in May 2013 when the helicopter crashed shortly after taking off in pitch darkness, killing Captain Don Filliter, co-pilot Jacques Dupuy and flight paramedics Dustin Dagenais and Chris Snowball.
Justice Duncan expressed concern about the safety standards of the air ambulance industry.
“What is an acceptable level of safety within the industry is given a rather generous interpretation,” he said.
Justice Duncan added that the agency could have installed autopilot systems and ground proximity alarms to their helicopters to prevent such an accident.
“I find it difficult to understand why these items were not required by the regulator or, absent such requirement, provided by the operator. This is the sort of extra step that in my view does fall in the space between regulation and an acceptable level of safety and for which an operator is responsible,” Duncan said.
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